Emerging from the shadowy corners of Italy’s underground, Nightscape is the solo project of Guglielmo Allegro, an artist who masterfully blends the Heavy Atmospheres of Stoner, Doom, Drone, and Noise. His latest album, “Catharsis,” marks a significant step in his evolving soundscape, weaving intense emotional expression with Experimental textures. We reached out to Guglielmo to uncover the creative mind behind Nightscape and to explore the themes, processes, and visions that fuel his music.
How would you describe the central themes and emotional core of “Catharsis”?
Like a ritual of physical and spiritual purification. The central theme of Catharsis is what ancient Greek religion saw as a ritual of purification, intended to cleanse the body and soul of all negative contamination. This is something we’ve all experienced at least once in our lives, and something we all need from time to time to recharge and move forward. The four tracks on the EP are part of a journey that takes the listener on a journey to calmly realize what has brought them here from beginning to end. “Khonsu,” the album’s first track, is an Egyptian deity, god of the moon, time, healing, and youth. His name means “Traveler,” and may refer to the moon’s journey across the night sky. In my vision, I thought of him as a sort of Virgil who leads listeners, or travelers like him, on the journey of catharsis to heal. “Realization of the Path” is a very slow song with a simple meaning that we often forget: the realization of the path, of the journey we’ve undertaken, and of everything we’ve experienced along the way, both joy and sorrow. Often, we move forward simply because we don’t want to look back on our journey, but it’s precisely by looking back that we realize how we got here. “Remembrance” is the awareness of everything, remembering one’s journey to face with a clear mind what at first might have seemed like a treacherous path that, despite everything and everyone, we nevertheless undertook and completed. Finally, “Catharsis,” the final track of the EP, is the realization of the journey, its culmination, the end or the beginning of another. The purification is complete and we are free to continue on our journey. This is, in fact, the foundation of the project itself: a feeling of relaxation and lightheartedness where the music transports you, unhurriedly, into a world of meditation, relaxation, and stillness.
Nightscape’s sound merges Stoner, Doom, Drone, and Noise. How do you approach combining these distinct genres into a cohesive whole?
I think the key is to put everything in its place without overdoing it. I began writing songs for this project by staying true to two principles: composing minimally and achieving a heavy, impactful, and aggressive sound without being oppressive. I’ve been listening to these genres for years now, and I wanted to take inspiration from each of them to build what is now the Nightscape project, drawing on a little bit of both without limiting myself creatively. The minimal aspect of drone has always fascinated me, and the idea of composing something both relaxing and stimulating led me to write a lot of material without even realizing it, slowly evolving into the characteristic sound of stoner and doom, full of fuzz
and feedback for a more aggressive and present impact. The idea of adding noise elements came to me while writing the first songs to address a feature that seemed too banal: the solos. I recorded the solos over and over again, first with an octave, then with a chorus, then with a phaser, then with a wha-wha… basically, I tried everything, but it always seemed banal or already heard! Then I tried a reverse effect and noticed that I was creating real walls of feedback, adding that extra touch of pure chaos with another delay that quadrupled the whole thing. That was the turning point for me to put my own personal touch on the project and consequently approach the noise/shoegaze or doomgaze sound.
Can you walk us through your creative process when composing and recording an album like “Catharsis”?
I think this was the first album I composed all at once, without dedicating myself to anything else, over the course of a week or so. I had started improvising and writing material with a baritone guitar using the same setup I use, and I noticed that it was slowly taking shape, even if it was perhaps slightly different from the project’s first album. So I played a song to a friend of mine, and he said it would be a great idea. Not satisfied with that, I asked in an Instagram story if my listeners and followers would be interested in an entire EP recorded with the baritone, considering it a little experiment, and the response was more than positive. The next day, I connected all my gear and tried to write as best I could, taking my time and taking the time to balance work and other commitments. It all happened very quickly; I got up and said, “Okay, let’s start today.” I wanted everything to sound as similar as possible to the previous album without distorting its style or anything else, and I think I achieved that without too many problems, staying true to my original sound, albeit with a darker, at times sharper, and decidedly more intense sound than the previous one. I normally use a Polara, and the
sound is much warmer. The only baritone I have at home is a Telecaster, which has a completely different and more articulate sound, something I especially realized during the mastering process. It took me four days to get all the songs for the album, or at least get a feel for them with a basic structure. I’d come home from work exhausted but full of ideas, and no matter how tired I was, I’d take advantage of the afternoon or evening to record, even just on my phone. I’d tweak a few things here and there and smooth out the rough edges of all the songs, and they were ready to be released in March/April, but I wanted to take my time, also because in the meantime I was releasing my drone single, Black Lung, for my other project. A quick call to my trusted designer Doomolith, who has been taking care of all the artwork for my projects for three years now, and everything was ready in less than a day. That guy is a machine!
What role do atmosphere and texture play in your music, and how do you achieve the immersive soundscapes listeners experience?
I’d say they’re the foundation upon which every piece of the project is built. For me, it’s crucial to place everything in its place and give the right depth to each part. The use of effects like reverb and delay on the various instruments helps fill each track with that dense sound that distinguishes Nightscape without being oppressive or annoying. Being a very minimal project, there’s a lot of space between one note and the next, and for me, it’s essential that each one have its own breathing space, its own beat, to fill and color those moments of emptiness that intentionally form between the various instruments. I play a lot with my imagination and the sensations each piece conveys to me to best compose, always trying to imagine a different landscape where I can admire the sky and what I’d like to listen to while enjoying the view. When I think of a starry, boundless night sky, that’s exactly the kind of music that immediately comes to mind: hundreds and hundreds of light years of space where sound propagates infinitely without encountering any obstacle to stop it. This philosophy is the basis of the project’s sound and I want the listener to grasp it while relaxing and listening to the tracks of my works one after the other.
How has your personal journey influenced the music and themes in Nightscape?
I’ll be honest: I started composing many of the songs for the Nightscape project for my girlfriend, intending to help her unwind from studying, work, and the stress of everyday life. That was the case with the first album, and Catharsis is no exception, nor are future releases of the project. Every single track was written with her in mind and for her. I contributed my own music and creativity, but I owe most of the inspiration and artistic influence of the project to her, not only as a source of inspiration but also as a huge emotional and artistic support for all my projects. I’d also thought about composing something similar several times, and I’d started piling up track after track until I had enough material to record an EP or a full-length LP. So I took the plunge and released my self-titled debut album at the beginning of the year.
Over time, however, I’ve also begun to see the project as a meditative outlet compared to its older brother, my main solo project, Void Sinker, which is much heavier and has a completely different musical approach, more focused on doom, drone, and sludge in the style of Conan, Bongripper, and Slomatics. If I had to make a comparison, I’d say both projects are the yin and yang of my musical vision regarding these particular genres that have been with me for years now.
The funny thing is that I started out as the drummer for a thrash metal band, and now if a song hits 100bpm it’s something truly unique, hahaha.
Italy’s underground scene is known for its diversity. Where do you see Nightscape positioned within this context?
I’m not exactly sure where I fit in because I’m not very familiar with the rest of the underground scene live, as it’s a more “direct-to-stream” project, but I think in the future there could be a small space for Nightscape among the multitude of bands with stoner psych influences around the country. In the Italian scene, there’s a truly wide variety of music that’s similar to mine, and if I had to think of a couple of names, “L’Ira del Baccano”, “Lee Van Cleaf”, “King Bong”, “Tuna de Tierra” and many others come to mind.
Are there specific artists or movements, past or present, that have shaped your sound and artistic vision?
I’d say the most evident influence, both in sound and composition, comes from bands like Earth, Boris, and Bong. Dylan Carlson’s project, particularly in terms of minimalist composition and part of the project’s sound, was my first approach to drone music, along with SunnO))), and I remember being mesmerized by the sound of “Bees…”, something
truly unique and inimitable. Boris is a Japanese band that captivated me immediately; “Flood” quickly became one of
my favorite albums, and the sound of all three captivated me with those heavy walls of feedback that led me to experiment with distortion in this project as well. Finally, Bong, to get a clear idea of how to create those surreal and hypnotic atmospheres…without having to sit still for fifteen minutes with a single note, at least.
What challenges do you face as a solo artist working within such a niche and Experimental spectrum?
It’s not easy, I have to admit. The idea of becoming a musician and working in the music industry has always fascinated me, and I hope one day to emerge in some way, but getting where I am has taken a lot of sacrifice and study, especially when it comes to the production side of things. Nothing that a year of study at one of the best academies in the country couldn’t help prepare you for working independently. In itself, it’s fascinating to constantly learn new things about the music industry and how it all works, but it’s also a full-time job that requires a certain amount of sacrifice and doesn’t offer many concessions to those who enter it self-taught, as I did. It’s not enough to simply release an album and hope someone notices it out of nowhere; it needs to be spread in as many ways as possible and as widely as possible, which social media helps a lot these days, but even there, it’s a jungle. What I can say with certainty is that despite everything, I’m happy that my work is appreciated, and I certainly don’t shy away from the challenges that all this continues to
present me.
How important is improvisation or spontaneous experimentation in your creative workflow?
I’d say it’s the foundation on which a project like this is built. I always have everything ready to record, and as soon as inspiration strikes, I immediately press REC, knowing that the next two or three hours will be focused on composing, articulating, and rearranging that riff that’s stuck in my head and won’t go away. It often happens to me that I spend the whole day, even a whole Sunday, with the guitar in my hand and not come up with anything, then maybe I go off to cook or do something completely different and the idea I was looking for kicks in, and then I immediately go back to playing.
Trying new things is something I’ve always taken with a pinch of salt once I’ve found the sound I wanted the project to have. I’ve always composed with the idea of a bass, guitar, and drums trio in mind, but sometimes I feel like a synth could easily find its way between one track and the next. Beyond that, I believe in the concept of a project evolving over time.
I recently changed my writing tuning, and that alone is enough to bring new ideas to the creative flow of the project, which continues to grow. Sometimes I also think about adding acoustic effects like chorus and the like to the bass and guitar but it’s always a “what if…?” that has time to be realized by a potential bassist for the project.
Can you share any memorable moments or stories from the making of “Catharsis”?
I think the only anecdote I can share is about “Khonsu.” It was the second song I wrote and the hardest to get right. It took me a whole day to record it because I really couldn’t find any idea how to write it. I spent the whole day playing and staring at the computer, coming up with over 30 different takes, but none of them convinced me enough to continue developing it. I remember my hands starting to hurt from improvising so much, and the strings seemed to be getting harder and harder. After a whole morning, I had the idea of slightly lowering the tuning to soften the strings and consequently completely change the sound of the EP. It was the right turning point to continue writing and finally get what the song is now… there was just one small problem: I had already recorded “Remembrance” in the previous tuning, and the next day I had to re-record it all from scratch, lowered by a half step.
How do you envision Nightscape evolving in future releases? Are there new directions or concepts you want to explore?
I think I’ll first finish releasing all the songs I’ve recorded over the past two years… I think I have enough material for a couple of albums, if not more. Catharsis was an experiment that I’ll probably try again over time, but I have a lot of material in E and Eb ready to be released… everything in its own time. I honestly hope to take this all live one day. I’m still looking for a bassist and a drummer, but I’d consider starting with some backing tracks as well… it’ll take some time, but I’m in no rush, and I certainly have plenty of ideas for new material.
Finally, what message or feeling do you hope listeners take away from “Catharsis”?
To relax, to think about nothing for a moment and lie down on a lawn, on the roof of their house, on a beach, on a mattress in the middle of the sea, wherever they want. To think back on what they’re going through, no matter how much it hurts, no matter how much they may have suffered, to try to understand that it’s over now, and no matter how visible
the scar may be, it’s all part of their life journey… to breathe, slowly, and move on.
We thank Guglielmo for taking the time to share his insights into Nightscape and Catharsis. His dedication to pushing the boundaries of Heavy and Experimental music continues to inspire and challenge listeners worldwide. Progressive Rock Journal looks forward to following the evolution of this compelling project.
Purchase “Catharsis” on Bandcamp: https://nightscape1.bandcamp.com/album/catharsis-2